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Anti-ag groups still in spotlight

The anti-animal agriculture organization that calls itself Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has managed to keep itself and its “investigation” into inhumane treatment of downed cattle at the Heartland/Westland beef plant in California in the media spotlight for more than a month now.

HSUS had an “insider” working at the plant, carrying a camcorder of some sort, taking pictures of what appears to be three different instances of downer cattle being prodded in some way shape or form to “get up.”

Just like one bad apple spoils the whole bunch, one animal abused is too many. Any good livestock producer would agree with me 100%. However, the allegations and media coverage HSUS has managed to generate would lead you to believe that there were hundreds and hundreds of downer cattle in the system that were being shocked and sprayed with water and all sort of things that you and I cannot in our wildest dreams imagine.

Not so.

If HSUS was/is truly concerned for the welfare of the schoolchildren and others who ate beef that came from the plant in question, why did they sit on the video for MONTHS? The video was taped in October and released in February.

Apparently, HSUS needed time to plot their attack against USDA and animal agriculture in this country.

American Meat Institute (AMI) President Patrick Boyle agrees that there were mistakes made at all levels, from the inhumane treatment of the downed cattle to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. He says FSIS should have done a scientific risk assessment once the abuse was exposed, because this is not a food safety issue, and a recall might have been avoided.

Regarding HSUS, Boyle said, “Its failure to alert immediately federal authorities to the practices captured on their video in a federally inspected plant in violation of federal laws only prolonged and almost even condoned for a period of time an illegal inhumane practice and needlessly complicated the subsequent federal investigation.”

Oh, did I mention that now HSUS is suing USDA? HSUS says that USDA’s rules, because of loopholes, fail to prevent sick animals from being slaughtered.

The AMI president says assertions made in the lawsuit just don’t hold weight. Patrick Boyle told reporters last week that USDA should NOT reconsider its very narrow exception for allowing downer animals to be reinspected and reevaluated and then processed for food. He says there is not an increase in BSE risk as HSUS claims, “A Texas A&M expert says the risk of an animal in the circumstances when it has passed antemortem inspection and subsequently goes down in that brief period thereafter is Zero.”

The President of HSUS says his group purposely kept what it knew about animal abuse at the Hallmark/Westland packing from USDA while the group built its case. Wayne Pacelle says the activist organization withheld video evidence because it needed public outrage to pressure USDA into strong action.

Pacelle – who does not eat meat – says he can’t imagine handling the situation any differently. The Humane Society of the U.S. is an activist group that tries to influence public opinion against meat consumption. It does not fund or operate any community-based animal shelters.

By the way, USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond, referring to the recalled beef from the Chino, California plant declared, “This meat – I would eat it. But it was not made in compliance with our regs and therefore I have to recall it.”

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